Apparatus for shaping metal



Feb. 29, 1944. R. v. PROCTOR 2,343,083

APPARATUS FOR SHAPING METAL vOriginal Filed Jain. 11, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Z1 Z0 Z2 Feb. 29, 1944.v

Original Filed Jan. 11, 1941 .24 Fly 2 55 R. v. P ocToR APPARATUS FORSHAPING METAL- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented F eb. 29, 1944 w en APPARATUSFOR SHAPING METAL Robert V. Proctor, Youngstown, Ohio, assignor to TheCommercial Shearing and Stamping Company, Youngstown, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Original application January 11, 1941, Serial No.

Divided and this application February 12, 1942, Serial No. 430,639

3 Claims.

This invention relates to the forging of metal bars and, in particular,to an apparatus for converting lengths of fiat bar stock into completelyfinished articles, such as U-shaped rail anchors, in a single operation.

This is a division from my application Serial No. 374,057, filed-January 11, 1941, for Method and apparatus for shaping metal.

The manufacture of certain articles used in large numbers, such asU-shaped rail anchors, cannot be satisfactorily carried out byconventional devices such as cold-bending apparatus, ordinary machinetools, etc., because of the character of the material, 1. e., alloyspring steel having a substantial manganese content and a high hardness.Hot forging of such articles by ordinary shaping dies is open to seriousobjections. Diificulty is encountered in finishing the articlesaccurately to dimensions and the presence of scale is also troublesome.Forgin a heated bar between dies, to shape a rail anchor, furthermore,scratches the surface of the articles and causes excessive wear of thedies.

I have invented a novel apparatus for producing generally U-shapedarticles from flat stock of such composition that it has to be shapedwhile heated to a temperature suitable for forging, whereby theaforementioned difficulties are overcome and the finished article may beturned out to accurate dimensions and without any marring of thesurface, in a single operation. In a preferred embodiment of theinvention, I employ a pair of spaced rolls and a punch reciprocabletherebetween. An anvil cooperating with the punch eifects a preliminaryshaping of the stock after which descent of the punch, in cooperationwith the rolls, effects the bending of the ends and finally thedie-shaping of the latter. In one form of the invention the rolls traveldownwardly in timed relation with the movement of the punch and aresupported by hardened steel backing plates mounted in a die-block.Further details of the construction and operation of the apparatus andthe advantages thereof will become apparent during the followingcomplete description and explanation, and the novel features will bespecifically pointed out in the appended claims. In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan View of the die-block and rolls with the punch shownin section on a horizontalplane;

Figure 2 is a partial sectional view taken substantially along the planeof line II--II of Figure 1, showing the punch, anvil and rolls in theirstarting or upper positions; and

Fi ure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the positions of theparts at the completion of a working stroke.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the bolsterplate of a forging pressis indicated at H). A dieblock H is supported on the bolster-plate byblocks I2. The block II has an opening it therethrough adapted toreceive a punch 14. The punch it has spaced rounded projections R5 atthe lower end thereof between which is a reentrant portion or recess l6.

Backing plate ll preferabl of tool steel are disposed in opposite endsof the opening l3 and are braced bygusset plates I8. Rolls 19 areadapted to bear against the plates H as they move vertically within theopening it with the punch Hi. The necks of the rolls indicated at 2B arenon-circular, e. g., hexagonal, and are provided with pinions 2i. Racks22 are positioned in the opening Iii adjacent the necks of the rolls itand mesh with the pinions 2!. The racks are braced by gusset plates 23.

The punch I4 is provided with racks 2t meshing with the pinions ii atthe rear or upper ends of the rolls id, as shown in Figure l.

Side plates 25 extend upwardly from both sid s of the opening I3adjacent each end thereof and support bridge plates 26 extending acrossthe opening adjacent each end. The plates 26 have their adjacent edgesrecessed as at 27 and are thereby adapted to support a piece of fiat barstock 28 in position for engagement by the punch I4.

An anvil 28 is mounted for reciprocation coaxially' of the punch I4. Theanvil may conveniently be carried on the piston 36 of a hydraulic hoist3i. In any event, the function of the anvil is to oppose the initialdownward movement of the punch with sufiicient force to deform themid-portion of the work-piece 23 upwardly into the reverse-curved recess16 of the punch. As shown in the drawings, the piston of the hoistextends through a suitable hole in the bolsterplate I0.

To explain the operation of the apparatus of my invention, it Will beassumed that the parts are in the positions illustrated in Figure 2 andthat the work-piece 28 has been heated in a suitable furnace to theproper temperature forhot shaping as by forging and rolling. The forgingpress with which the mechanism shown is associated is then operated todrive the punch-Hi downwardly. As previously indicated, the initial re:

sult is to shape the mid-portion of the piece26 between the anvil 29 andthe recess 5 of 1 the punch thereby forming a hump intermediatethe endsof the anchor. Thepunch thus actsas a movingdie. l 1

The downwardmovement of the punch l,4 is accompanied by similar movementofthe rolls I9. The latter roll on the backing platesll without slippagebecause, as shown in'Figures 2 and 3, the pitch circles of the pinions2| have the same diameter as the bodies of the rolls l3." Since thepinions roll on the racks 22 by reason" of the downward thrust of theracks 24, the axes of the rolls l9 descend at a rate one-half the speedof the punch I4.

After slight downward movement of the punch M, the ends of the piece 28slip 01f the recessed edges of the bridging plates 26 and, as the punchforces the piece 28 downwardly against the upward pressure exerted bythe anvil 29, the ends of the work-piece engage the bodies of the rollsit. On continued movement of the punch, the ends of the work-piece arebent upwardly around the rounded projections l5, through an angle ofabout 90 into substantial parallelism.

In addition to the recess 16 in its bottom, the punch has die recesses32 and projections 33 which become effective to shape the ends of thework-piece as the descent of the punch continues. It will be apparentthat, since the rolls travel downwardly at a speed one-half that of thepunch, there is rolling engagement without slippage between the bodiesof the rolls and the ends of the work-piece. As the die recesses andprojections 32 and 33 come opposite the bodies of the rolls ill, aprogressive shaping of the ends of the work-piece is effected by thecooperation of the rolls and die portions of the punch. This shaping isaccompanied by slight extrusion of the ends, so that the operation maycorrectly be termed a true die rolling.

Figure 3 illustrates the condition of the workpiece as the partsapproach their final positions. The anvil 29 cooperating with the recessI6 in the punch has displaced the mid-portion of the work-piece upwardlyto form a hump or bearing portion of a rail anchor adapted to engage thebottom of the rail flange centrally. The ends of the work-piece havebeen bent into such position that, when sprung over the edges of therail flange, they will have a firm frictional engagement therewith. Thedie projections 33 on the punch, furthermore, have formedflange-receiving slots on the inner faces of the finished article, suchas the rail anchor indicated at 34.

The anvil 2a is larger at its bottom than the piston 39 and the hole inthe bolster plate through which the latter slides. The engagement of theanvil with the bolster plate therefore arrests downward movement of theanvil and punch. A heavy sizing blow is thus applied to the article bythe momentum of the punch as the anvil strikes the bolster plate. Afterthe punch has exerted this sizing blow, the press is operated to raisethe punch and with it the rolls IS. The anvil 29 preferably remains inits lowermost position until the finished anchor has been removed by asuitable ejector traveling horizontally and parallel to the axes of therolls I9. After the finished anchor has been thus ejected, the anvil 29is raised to the position shown in Figure 2, another heated piece ofstock, such as that shown at 23, is placed in position and the operationrepeated.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description and explanation thatthe invention is characterized by numerous advantages and novel featuresespecially adapted for the manufacture of rail anchors, although it maybe used as well for the forging of other articles involving the shapingand bending of bar stock. The possibility of finishing articles such asrail anchors accurately to dimensions by the process and apparatus of myinvention has already been mentioned. The several bending and shapingoperations are combined into a single continuous procedure which can becompleted in a very short space 'of time,

thereby making possible the production of articles such as rail anchorsin large numbers and at low cost. A forging press of relatively moderatecapacity is sufficient to perform the operations described since thethrust required to bend the ends of the bar by the action of the rollsis small compared to the force that would be required to swage theseportions in a fixed die. As already explained, the metal being shapedhas only rolling engagement with the shaping surfaces of the punch androlls, thereby avoiding scratching of the surfaces of the article. Theextrusion of the ends of the work-piece prevents widening of the ends ofthe article adjacent the flange-receiving slots and permits some economyin material since a shorter blank may be used than would otherwise benecessary. Difliculty with scale is avoided because there are nosurfaces on which scale can accumulate. The cost of the apparatusnecessary for operating in accordance with my method is much less thanthat of ordinary forging dies and the cost of maintenance iscorrespondingly reduced.

While I have illustrated and described only a preferred embodiment ofthe invention, it will be understood that changes in the structuredisclosed may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention. As already stated, the invention is adaptable to themanufacture of articles other than rail anchors. Special shapes may beproduced by varying the contour of the backing plates or the rollsthemselves and matrix grooves may be formed in the latter to provideraised portions on the exterior of the finished article. The bendingrolls, furthermore, might be stationary instead of movable and providedwith suitable backing rolls if desired.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for making a rail anchor having spaced, substantiallyparallel sides with flangereceiving slots on their adjacent faces and anintermediate connecting portion with a re-entrant hump adapted to engagethe bottom of a rail flange, said apparatus comprising a die-blockhaving a polygonal opening therethrough, a pair of parallel rollsdisposed in spaced relation in said opening and confined therein againstendwise movement but free for sidewise movement therein, a punchreciprocable through said opening between said rolls, a displaceableanvil cooperating with said punch to deform the intermediate portion ofa straight bar into said hump, said punch cooperating with said rollssimultaneously to bend the ends of said bar through about intosubstantial parallelism as the punch advances between the rolls, pinionson said rolls and racks on said block and punch meshing therewithwhereby the advance of the punch rotates the rolls and moves themsidewise into said opening, and die recesses in the sides of said punch,said rolls being adapted to shape the slots in the anchor ends bydie-rolling the ends of the bar against the sides of the punch as theforward end of the punch passes beyond the rolls.

2. The apparatus defined by claim 1 characterized by backing platesseated against the sides of said opening and supporting said rolls asthey move sidewise.

3. The apparatus defined by claim 1 characterized by said anvil having arounded working surface and said punch having spaced rounded projectionsand an inwardly curving recess for cooperation with said punch to formsaid hump.

ROBERT V. PROCTOR.

